Family mourns 7-year-old killed in I-20 wreck

ATLANTA, Ga. - There are new developments in a deadly crash that killed a boy on Interstate 20 in Douglasville. Investigators think the driver missed the Fairburn Road exit, then swerved across a grass divider to get onto the ramp and lost control.

At least four kids were thrown from the vehicle, including 7-year-old Jamal Lewis, who died at the scene. His mother, Erica Lewis, told Channel 2's Ashley Swann he and his sisters were riding in the SUV with their godmother and her two children.

"I'm in so much pain right now," Lewis told Swann. "It just happened so quick. I'm just trying to understand why."

Lewis says three of her six children, 14-year-old Sandterria, 7-year-old Jamal and 5-year-old Jasmine, were headed to a party with their godmother and her two children when the crash happened. Police say at least some of the passengers were not properly buckled when the SUV flipped several times on the exit ramp.

"I just wish they could come back to me," Lewis said.

Lewis says her daughter Jasmine is in serious condition at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, but is expected to be OK. This, as family members keep vigil at her big sister's hospital bed across town, where doctors have told the family to prepare to say goodbye.

"I'm going to miss her so much," Lewis told Swann. "I just don't know what to do without her."

Lewis says she hasn't heard from her friend who was driving and suffered only minor injuries, but wants to know why her kids weren't in seat belts and what happened to cause the crash that's torn her life apart.

"You could've gone up and turned back around," said Lewis. "They didn't deserve to die that way."

The driver's two teenaged children were also taken to local hospitals, but are expected to be OK. The Douglasville police chief called this one of the worst single-vehicle accidents he's ever seen, but police tells Channel 2 Action News it's too early to say if any charges will be filed.